5 bright red lights, not flashing or strobing seen on clear night sky.

On August 1, 2012 at approximately 9:50 pm ET I walked outside to get something out the car and noticed a very bright red light coming from a west/SW direction (back towards batesville rd) moving in a north/nw direction. At first I thought it was a helicopter or plane as we see them frequently near the GSP International Airport. However, after a few seconds I ruled that out because it made no sound and was not flashing/strobing – it was a single red bright light, no green or white secondary lights.

I watched the first one go past my location and then suddenly go out. It was 30 sec to 45 sec from the time I first saw it in the distance until it went out. It moved in a regular straight line, at a constant speed, appearing to climb in altitude.

Almost immediately after the first one disappeared, I noticed a second light in the exact same location (west/sw) and following the same path as the first. I ran inside and got my wife to come out to see the light. It hade moved on past our location and then went out at approximately the same point as the first. This happened 3 more times for a total of 5 over about 5 minutes. The altitude appeared to be about the same level as I usually see local news helicopters.

I was able to grab a set of binoculars in time to look at the last occurrence. The light appeared as a solid sphere. I would have to compare it to seeing a red traffic light several hundred yards away on a dark night.